Sour grapes?

Reggie got tickets months ago for a big heavy metal concert that was being held this week-end. Of course, ‘months ago’ he still had a girlfriend (Pojo).

He’d worked hard to earn the ticket money and as far as concerts go, this was one of the priciest ones that he’s ever invested in. Despite lacking a date, he was determined to go. He’d been looking forward to it for too long to miss it and fortunately his friend (who we call ‘the Maniac’) was able to attend in Pojo’s place.

We still had a problem, though. Due to the ‘incident’ that Reggie had with the van, we were lacking a headlight and it is illegal to drive after dark with only one headlight.

We tried desperately to get the light fixed before concert night, but none of the independent mechanics seemed to be able to find the proper parts and the dealer gave us nothing but the run-around.

It was very discouraging.

Reggie was not discouraged. He was going….even if it meant taking his chances driving with a busted headlight.

I pondered this and figures began adding up in my mind. Two hundred dollars to get the car back if it was impounded, not to mention the cost of a citation for driving a non-street legal vehicle….plus cab fare for the boys to get home if they were caught.

I was discouraged.

I came to the decision that it would be better to rent a car for forty-five dollars than to even think about letting Reggie drive the bashed-up van.

This was fine with him. He really liked the idea of driving around in a rental car for the evening.

I reserved a car while he was in school, but we would have to pick it up at four o’clock.

When I picked him up from school, he asked if we were going to pick-up the rental car.

“Well”, I said. “I’ve got good news and bad news.”

“Good news,” he demanded.

“The good news is that you will be able to go to the concert tonight.”

“Bad news?”

“I’ll have to drive you. They won’t let eighteen year-olds drive the rentals.”

“That is so unfair!!” He burst out. “Who made that stupid rule?”

He had envisioned himself and the Maniac driving around town by themselves in a ‘cool’ rental car. I had to listen to twenty minutes of his ranting and his threats to call the American Civil Liberties Union.